A Kentucky boy and a DC gal. This is the story of two newlyweds beginning their new life together in the Nation's Capitol. Follow us as we begin to renovate our first home, a 1910 Federal-style porch front in heart of Capitol Hill East.

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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Week 2: A Solid Foundation

Hello Everybody! I hope everyone had a good holiday. Mine was great! It was very restful (which explains the lack of blog posts last week).While the rest of the East Coast was buried in several feet of snow, the DC area was spared in what several DC blogs have called “No-mageddon.” Hehehehe…I am so happy that it didn’t snow in our area mainly because our kitchen renovation would be delayed.Let me show you some pics of what has been done so far!

Here is a hole in our ceiling.I think our contractor was maybe tinkering around with the roof.In our new kitchen the ceilings will definitely be taller and it will have a skylight too!However, I don’t think this hole in the ceiling is the skylight. J

Here is a view from the doorway and the dining room.I just wanted to point out that huge gap at the top of the door.I can easily imagine money going right through the door—literally!I can’t wait to get a new door that will be energy efficient in keeping the heating/cooling inside and the elements out.

Lastly, here is a shot of our floor.As you can see, the debris (and ladder) have been moved, leaving the floor exposed.By uncovering the floor, we discovered that the existing foundation wasn’t enough to support our new, bigger kitchen; basically, we have to a build a whole new foundation under the kitchen from scratch.Long story short, it means that we will be spending more money than we originally intended. L They always say that you always go over budget in any renovation, but I just wasn’t planning on going over our budget so early in the renovation process.Our FHA 203k loan included a reserve fund to cover any unforeseen renovation costs and with our foundation issue we have already tapped into it.I guess it just means we’ll have to be really careful with the cost of the finishes and appliances—the things we have somewhat control over.Or maybe we’ll have to wait a little longer for central air-conditioning. Whatever may happen with the rest of our renovation, it’s a fact that we’ll have to tighten our belts to account for the extra expenses early on.